The earthquake that shook Japan in 2011 drove up LED bulb market demand. Unlike other countries, Japan first developed LED lighting in the residential market which substantially increased market demand as a whole. The lighting market continued expanding LED products in 2013, targeting indoor lighting including residential and commercial lighting, and launching tube lighting, panel lighting and ceiling lamps. LEDinside continues to observe commercial lighting market developments in 2014. As commercial lighting continues to expand, tube, panel, and niche market candle lighting are gradually maturing.

How can light be measured to better improve spatial lighting and brightness? Japanese electronics manufacturer Panasonic introduces a new 3D lighting spatial measurement “Feu” targeted at architects and lighting designers during the seminar “‘Quality of Lighting’—Brightness and Efforts to Improve the Quality of Lighting” that took place on Jan. 17, the third day of Lighting Japan 2014.

LED chip manufacturer Epistar’s Chairman B.J. Lee during the company’s year-end dinner on the 18th announced that the company is currently the largest LED chip manufacturer globally and hopes to become a first-class company in the future, according to Economic Daily News. The company’s LED lighting shipments have doubled this year and Epitar anticipate 2014 to be a better year than 2013 for the company.

Osram officially spin-off from parent firm Siemens AG of Germany in July 2013, becoming an independent firm in order to fully provide for their clients. Lighting Japan 2014 invited Osram to give a keynote speech in their smart lighting conference to elaborate on the changing trends in the LED industry. During the conference, Osram mentioned having a complete supply chain including chip, package, module, lamp, solution, and after sales services in order to fully develop the LED lighting market. How to use the advantages of LED products and technology to develop energy management systems is consistently a deeply discussed topic.

Considering Lighting Japan 2014 is a trade show focused on LED and OLED industry, it is probably no surprise that Philips featured a couple of OLED products at its booth from Jan. 15-17, 2014 at Tokyo Big Sight. In fact, the company has highlighted more OLED products at its booth this year than LED products. 

LED lighting demand is a key player for Taiwan LED package manufacture growth in 2014, according to a recent report from Morgan Stanley. Everlight’s goal is to increase lighting revenue percentage to 30 percent in 2014. Morgan Stanley estimates that the company’s lighting operations will double, but that increase in product inventory still requires a lot of attention.

Jason Wu, chairman of Taiwanese LED package manufacturer Edison Opto, is optimistic about lighting demand growth in 2014 and the opportunity for operations to rebound in March. The company expanded PLCC and COB production capacity in 2013 as LED lighting demands continued to rise. The company plans to further expand PLCC in 2014 and estimates that monthly production will increase to 800KK in 2014.

Chinese LED manufacturer Elec-Tech released a report on January 19th announcing the company’s various businesses’ preliminary estimated data for 2014. The company anticipates sales revenue in 2014 to increase by 50 percent compared to 2013, including sales revenue for their LED business which is estimated to increase 100 percent from 2013.

Tucked in the far corner of Lighting Japan 2014 show grounds last week, Philips Lighting booth attracted a huge crowd of visitors with its colorful Philips Hue LED bulb display. The company delivered a clear message of continuing its global strategy of promoting the colorful bulb at the show through a large cargo box display installed with 150 Philips Hue bulbs.

Seoul Semiconductor participated in Lighting Japan 2014 Exhibition which was held in Tokyo International Exhibition Center from January 15th to 17th. With LED lighting applications gradually maturing and limited space for LED dropping prices, HV LED products with advantages in simplified electric current module design are increasing in popularity. Seoul Semiconductor displayed their new Acrich series of products during this year’s Lighting Japan exhibition.

UBS: LED chip supply and demand has balanced out, increase in shipment volume and gross profit possible in the future.Expansion of chip production in 2013 was limited and around 20-30 percent produced was invalid. With LED lighting rapidly growing, supply and demand for the domestic LED chip industry has already balanced out. We anticipate that LED chips will increase both in shipments and gross profit in 2014. Leading manufacturers with advantages in scale and cost and with government backing have the potential  to increase competitiveness.

A research consortium of leading universities and industry partners has been established to promote adoption of solid-state lighting (SSL) in European cities. The consortium will encourage cities to replace existing lighting systems based on incandescent and fluorescent lamps with brighter, more sustainable SSL based on light-emitting diode technology (LED).

This week our website got a makeover! Out with the old and in with the new for 2014. Lighting Japan 2014 has taken center stage this week, drawing more than 10,000 visitors. This year’s expo was the largest ever, comprising of three specialized shows. Designers, buyers, and visitors all flocked to the exhibition which ran from Jan.15-17 at Big Sight Tokyo. In addition, manufacturers have released their latest financial reports this week.

Lighting Japan 2014 was comprised of three specialized shows, including the LED/OLED Lighting Expo, making it the biggest ever. Running from Jan. 15-17, the show was held at Big Sight Tokyo. Global lighting heavy weights including Philips, Osram, GE, Panasonic, and Toshiba to name a few, all displayed their new products for the upcoming year. LED components were not the only focal point of the expo. Lighting application and high density integration (HDI) systems also draw a lot of attention from buyers and visitors. OLED application in lighting was another notable trend during the show. 

A large number of LED manufacturers have set a high goal for quantity of LED bulb and LED tube light shipments. However, the number of manufacturers who are able to employ a completely automated production system is small. Only a limited number of LED manufactures are currently producing LED bulbs through automated production. LED tube design is yet to be integrated and differences between assembly processes has lead to the market not being fully equipped for automated production of tube lighting.

Taiwanese LED manufacturer Everlight intent of further developing LED luminaires becomes more evident at Lighting Japan 2014, which took place from Jan. 15-17 at Tokyo Big Sight. In the far corner of prototype lighting at the lighting trade show, Everlight Group subsidiary Liang displayed a series of new LED luminaire prototypes. The new player on the LED market speaks about its origins and brand philosophy.

At Lighting Japan 2014, it was clear that large manufacturers have been quickening their pace in introducing OLED into the lighting market. Large international manufacturer Osram spoke about developing OLED in the lighting market during the lighting expo.

Honglitronics released their 2013 year performance report on January 15th. The company estimated a net profit of between NT $54.36 million and NT $63.82 million (US $1.8 million and US $2.1 million), YoY increase from 15 percent to 35 percent compared to NT $47.27 million in 2012.

Elec-Tech revealed on January 14th plans to establish a joint venture focused on LED production in Bengbu city, Anhui Providence. The joint venture will have a registered capital of RMB 1.4 billion (US $231.4 million), of which RMB 1 million is provided by Elec-Tech through funds, materials, and intangible assets. The company will own 71.43 percent in shares. The other 28.57 percent is owned by Bengbu City Holding Corporation who invested RMB 400 million.

At Lighting Japan 2014 in Tokyo Big Sight, OLED industry insiders of have noted that there is still a long way to go before the technology can become mature enough to compete with LEDs.

Refond Optoelectronics released their performance report for 2013 on January 14th. The company estimates that market listed company shareholder net profit will reach between RMB 56 million and RMB 63 million (US $9.3 million and US $ 10.4 million), growth of 20-34 percent YoY. Net profit in 2012 was RMB 46.86 million.

Kingsun released their 2013 revised earnings forecast on January 14th. In the company’s earlier 3Q13 report, they originally estimated net profit for market listed company shareholders in 2013 to reach RMB 105-136 million (US $17.4-22.5 million).

Leading chip manufacturers including San’an Optoelectronics (San’an Opto) and HC SemiTek Corp. (HC SemiTek) have been turning from 2 inch to 4 inch epitaxial wafers, which industry insiders anticipated to be the upcoming trend in 2014.

Unity Opto Chairman Wu Ching-huei during the company’s year-end celebration on the 13th stated that LED lighting will be a thriving industry in 2014, according to the Economic Daily News. The company’s lighting revenue will double this year with January having the opportunity to increase 30 percent month on month (MoM) in revenue.

Due to overseas market expansion and private brand developmental needs, Yankon Lighting announced on January 13th that their 95 percent owned subsidiary, Xiamen Yankon Energetic Lighting Co., has invested AUD $1 million (RMB 5.40 million) to establish a wholly owned subsidiary in Australia.

Taiwanese lighting manufacturer Tons Lightology saw growth for their private brand in China and Taiwan during 2013, benefiting from the booming LED lighting market. Revenue proportions for the company’s brand made up less than 10 percent in 2012, but increased up to 14-15 percent in 2013. Continuing to increase the brand’s revenue proportions is the company’s main goal for 2014. Revenue growth is anticipated to increase to 50 percent according to predictions from law persons.

LED package manufacturer Harvatek released their December 2013 revenue, which reached NT $499 million (US $16.7 million), growth of 7.98 percent from November and 66.8 percent from December 2012, making December the month with the highest revenue performance during the slack season. December and November had similar revenue, but December benefited from reinvestment in small to mid size backlight display manufacturer Honor Light Limited as well as injections from joint cooperation with driver IC manufacturer Macroblock which brought the company an additional NT $150 million.

Price tag for Samsung OLED TVs will not drop anytime soon as the industry still faces some hurdles to overcome in the manufacturing process.

As global environmental pollution escalates, the new generation lighting technology LED has become a major focus. LED replacement trend has been initiated as LED lighting efficiency and lifetime improves significantly, and has evident advantages in energy efficiency and environmental friendly.

Australian designer Andy Zhou, a fresh 2013 graduate of Bachelors of Industrial Design at Monash University has introduced a flexible OLED luminaire that can be programmed to flex and display various lighting patterns. Below is a detailed introduction of the OLED luminaire from Zhou’s website: